B i o g r a p h y
 (by Official Site)

Nuspirit Helsinki is a multi talented Finnish collective of DJ’s, producers, and musicians that has ascended to the forefront of the burgeoning European neo jazz scene on the strength of their peerless productions for Guidance, Jazzanova/Compost and Ubiquity. The group was conceived in 1998 by founding members Tuomas Kallio and Hannu Nieminen (a.k.a. DJ Ender) who enlisted a core group of Helsinki’s finest musicians to develop a dynamic 21st century big band sound informed by a wealth of jazz, funk, soul, afro, and Latin influences. Equally inspired by cutting edge hip hop, nu soul, broken beat, two step and drum and bass sounds, Nuspirit’s musical mission is to fuse live organic instrumentation with warm, dubby electronic textures to produce soulful and sophisticated music that can be enjoyed on or off the dancefloor. The group’s barrier breaking debut single “Take It Back” was released on Guidance in March 1999 and has since attained cult classic status in both deep house and eclectic DJ circles. Refusing to limit their sound to any specific sub-genre, the band took things to the next level on their red hot and relentlessly funky follow up single “Makoomba Breaks,” combining masterful musicianship with sizzling percussion to create this sultry afro-beat classic. The single includes an extended re-edit of “Afro-Cuban Sunshine” the standout track from Guidance’s acclaimed Mundial Muzique collection which was charted by all of the right DJ’s and embraced by a cross section of electronic and traditional world music fans across the planet. Changing directions once again, Nuspirit dropped their amazing “Montana Roha Jazz” EP on pioneering German label JCR in the winter of 2001 to a rapturous response. A tribute to the band’s vision and versatility, this orchestral jazz dance masterpiece elevated Nuspirit Helsinki to the forefront of the blossoming European nu-jazz movement alongside pioneering artists like Jazzanova, Incognito, Four Hero, and Kruder and Dorfmeister. Enlisting the support of the musicians that performed on their previous singles, Nuspirit took their big band show on the road in the summer of 2001, dazzling crowds at Jazz and Electronic music festivals across the continent with their forward thinking fusion of accomplished musicianship and relentless dancefloor energy. After completing their tour, the band retreated to its Helsinki studio to record their eagerly anticipated debut album which features contributions from an all star cast of vocalists, including: Naked Music’s resident diva Lisa Shaw, Brooklyn bred nu-soul chanteuse Nicole Willis, acclaimed Chicago spoken word artist Chuck Perkins, and Nuspirit’s resident blue eyed soulstress Ona Kamu. The end result is an exquisite long player fusing smokey live jazz funk arrangements and melodic nu-soul grooves with dark undulating broken beat rhythms to propel the Blue Note jazz sound safely into the future. Released in May 2002, Nuspirit’s eponymously titled debut album is already in regular rotation on Gilles Peterson’s seminal World Wide Radio Program and is receiving maximum support from a host of taste making DJs, including: LTJ Bukem, Jazzanova, Thievery Corporation, Norman Jay, Patrick Forge, Kyoto Jazz Massive, Dr. Bob Jones, U.F.O. and many more.